Catholic Church leaders like ArchbBishop Jose Palma of Cebu are again reminding priests to prepare their homilies well.
This is timely because some priests deliver long homilies that practically drive parishioners away from attending Mass, or push them to transfer to other churches.
I used to hear Mass at the Lourdes Parish in Punta Princesa. I was discouraged because the 8 a.m. mass usually ended past 9 not only because of the lengthy singing but because of the long homilies.
By the time the Mass would end, we still could not go home immediately because vehicles of people coming for the next Mass at 9:15 a.m. were already blocking vehicles on their way out. I called the attention of the parish priest about these irritants but nothing happened, so I did the next best thing, which was to hear Mass instead at Sacred Heart Parish in D. Jakosalem Street every Sunday at 8 a.m.
This is where I met the late Fr. Ramon Mores who became a good friend. He presided over Mass that lasted 45 minutes at most and his homilies were straight to the point.
I also appreciate how the Jesuit priests in the parish always prepare for their homilies. These are usually written beforehand and are sensitive to the signs of the times. I hope that priests in Lourdes Parish have changed their ways and that Masses end within schedule.
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I appreciate the comment of Sen. Allan Peter Cayetano about the Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) “no travel” policy for those without new car plates.
It is important that new owners register their cars and get their new plates within seven days from registration. But the problems seems to be coming from the LTO itself, where car dealers say there’s a delay in the release of new car plates.
Cayetano is asking the LTO for the suspension and moratorium of the implementation of the controversial policy. I agree with the good senator and appeal to the LTO to rethink the implementation of this policy. As of today, it is not practicable and is creating a lot of headaches and problems to owners of the new vehicles.
The LTO should be more sensitive to the sentiments of the public. Another problem is that the fine imposed on drivers supposedly violating the policy will be kept by the government even if they have explained that it was not their fault.
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I would like to reiterate my call for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to review its decision to use the PCOS machine in the coming 2016 election, given our bad experiences during the past elections.
The Comelec should ensure that the use of machines to perpetrate cheating in the past elections will not happen again.
If one is to analyze the setup, there is no record of votes cast by the people except the data coming from the PCOS machines.
There is no way to verify and validate the votes cast except to open the ballot box and manually count the votes, but the present arrangement does not allow that, the reason that some IT experts are advocating a return to manual voting.